Bjarke Ingels Group and Carlo Ratti Associati have broken ground on 88 Market Street, a new skyscraper at the heart of Singapore's business district. Transforming a site which was previously occupied by a parking structure from the 1980s, the 280-meter-tall building will include plentiful greenery both on its facades and internally. Inside, the building will include offices, 299 serviced residential units, and ancillary retail space.

The building's key design move is in the vertical fins rising the height of the tower, which are pulled open at certain locations to expose the tropical vegetation inside the building. At the ground floor, visitors to the building will be met with a public "rainforest plaza" and park, featuring a number of "activity pockets" which provide space for fitness sessions, art installations, or other community events. This park will flow into the "city room," a 19-meter-high entry space inside the tower which creates separate lobbies for the building's offices and residential units, and also leads to the "food center" for shoppers and diners.

"BIG's design seeks to continue Singapore’s pioneering vertical urbanism with the 280m tall diverse community of places to work, live and play inside as well as outside," said Bjarke Ingels. "At multiple elevations, the facade peels open to reveal urban oases for its users and the surrounding city – animating the elegant smoothness of modern architecture with the ubiquitous tropical nature."

The residential units will be located in the lower 8 floors of the tower itself, while offices occupy the top 29 floors. Between the two are 4 floors of what the architects are calling the "Green Oasis"--a 30-meter high open landscaped area with interconnected levels forming a spiraling "botanical promenade," providing viewpoints of both the Green Oasis itself and the city beyond.

"In this building, green areas are made accessible to the public at different heights, allowing the city’s exuberance to extend throughout the entire tower," explained Carlo Ratti. "Working in nature will be as essential to the experience of the building as the most advanced digital technologies, offering us a glimpse of tomorrow's offices."

"As someone with Singaporean heritage, I’m honored and humbled by the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing evolution of architecture in Singapore – the home of tropical modernism," added Brian Yang, a partner in charge of the project at BIG. "BIG’s design looks to further this local typology by distinctly yet seamlessly blending the contemporary high-rise with abundant greenery in-between the offices, residences, amenities and recreation spaces."